Fans mar Hill’s 500 as league manager
ROCHDALE moved out of the relegation zone but manager Keith Hill was furious with his own supporters for their lack of support.
Dale proved too strong for Peterborough at the Crown Oil Arena to earn only their fourth league win of the campaign.
Striker Calvin Andrew marked his new contract extension with his first goal of the season in a fine turn-and-shoot finish. Callum Camps then doubled the lead with a stunning strike from a direct free-kick on the edge of the box.
However, in his 500th league game as an EFL manager, Hill was not impressed with the home side’s fans.
“I’m happy with the performance and the result but I’m not happy hearing chants of ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ or ‘You must be s*** because we’re winning at home’ when you look at our home record,” said Hill.
“When you go through bad times I expect better support, better belief, better backing.”
Peterborough’s best opportunity came from a counter-attack as Jack Marriot pushed the ball wide to strike partner Marcus Maddison, but his shot was well covered by Dale keeper Josh Lillis at the near post.
There was also a Posh penalty shout as Maddison was brought down in the area.
“We should have had a penalty in the first half when Marcus was hauled down and that was a turning point in the game,” said Posh boss Grant McCann.
“I’m not hiding from the fact we were poor but if we had that penalty we go one up and it could have been different.”
In the 33rd minute, Rochdale’s first shot on target gave them the lead. A low Joseph Rafferty cross fell to Andrew at the nearpost. The 30-year-old striker, who had signed a two-year extension this week, controlled the ball nicely, turned his marker and lofted the ball over goalkeeper Connor O’Malley in a sensational effort.
Four minutes later, Camps earned a free-kick just outside the area and fired the ball into the top right-hand corner, leaving O’Malley rooted to his goal-line to double the hosts’ advantage.
After making three changes at half-time, Peterborough pushed forward with intent in the second half but could not find a desired end product.
“I could talk all day about what was wrong with the performance,” added McCann. “They were two sloppy goals to concede. We were never at the races and it has happened too many times against teams below us in the table.”